Is the BBC Left-Wing or Right-Wing?
The BBC is rarely free from ideological complainants. Tabloid newspapers claim that the Beeb is forever peddling left–wing propaganda. The general public, according to various opinion polls, mostly thinks of it as subservient to power, hence right–wing.
It all depends on how you define the terms, of course. If we take relatively straightforward dictionary–style definitions,
- ‘left–wing’ means representing or promoting the interests of the less powerful, i.e. the general population, and
- ‘right–wing’ means representing or promoting the interests of the powerful, i.e. the owners of economic capital and political power.
The BBC is Right–Wing
By those definitions, the BBC is clearly right–wing in the two main aspects of its news coverage:
- the selection of events it covers
- and the uncritical manner in which those events are covered.
BBC news reflects what is sometimes known as ‘the national interest’, i.e. the interests of established national institutions. Debate is limited to ideas acceptable to the main business parties; strikes and demonstrations, when they are reported at all, are depicted as threats to normal life; and the monarchy is fawned upon.
It is also overwhelmingly right–wing in its coverage of matters other than news and current affairs. The ratio of brain–dead drivel (almost everything that’s broadcast) to serious intellectual activity (almost nothing) by itself limits the opportunity for critical discussion.
The BBC is Left–Wing
The one area in which the BBC tends to be noticeably more civilised that the rest of the general media is its attitude to certain social matters. It is less ferociously anti–immigrant than most newspapers, and usually offers a non–judgmental depiction of minority social groups.
This sort of vaguely left–wing attitude is safe and politically useful. It annoys just enough of the “I’m not a racist, but …” brigade to give the impression of independence, without challenging any of the central elements of domestic power.